


wendy and peter pan

by SJAandDWfan



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: 18k words of fluff, F/F, Theatre, Theatre AU, and SIN, college peter pan au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 15:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13860207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SJAandDWfan/pseuds/SJAandDWfan
Summary: Sara thumbs at her script apprehensively."So," she starts. "Are you free to read through some stuff?"Ava shrugs. "Yeah, I don't have anywhere I need to be. You?"Sara shakes her head, thinking of her evening seminar which she is definitely going to miss. "Nope."*or, the college peter pan theatre au i've had in my head since 3x12





	wendy and peter pan

**Author's Note:**

> I mean, I spent five days coming back to this - would you believe it was meant to stay between 3k and 5k words? 
> 
> Basically, a few years ago I saw this new adapted version of the peter pan story at the RSC, and it popped into my head as a good version to use. I even bought the e-script for reference, hence the multiple quotes in the work itself.
> 
> Dedicated to the cheesecake groupchat on twitter - you guys are mental but I love it!

“You’re doing what now?”

 

Mick looks confused (well, more confused than usual) and Sara rocks back and forth on her toes somewhat nervously as she regards her friends.

 

“I’m auditioning for the winter play.”

 

“As in, the one the college is putting on?” Ray asks.

 

Sara nods. “I was hoping you guys would audition too?”

 

There’s a few uneasy looks shared between Sara’s group of friends as they process her words. Amaya, Ray and Nate seem to be considering it, but Zari and Mick both look like they would rather stick pins in their eyes.

 

“What’s the play?” Amaya takes the bait.

 

“Wendy and Peter Pan,” Sara says, and Zari rolls her eyes.

 

Ray looks confused. “You mean Peter Pan, right? By J. M. Barrie?”

 

“No, actually,” Sara says. “It’s an adapted version that’s meant for a more modern audience. It’s kind of cool when you—”

 

“Cool?” Zari questions, eyebrows raised.

 

Sara clears her throat. “I mean, as cool as a dumb play can get.”

 

Most of her friends still don’t look entirely convinced.

 

“You’d get to do stage fighting?” Sara tries as a last-ditch effort.

 

“Fighting?” Mick perks up, and Sara’s quick to take advantage.

 

“Yeah, with swords and everything! Please guys, just try out with me?”

 

One by one, her friends agree, some more begrudgingly than others, and Sara tries to contain her excitement as she passes around a character sheet.

 

*****

 

A week later, and all of them actually turn up for the audition. Sara can’t quite believe it.

 

Professor Stein is directing this play, which isn’t exactly a surprise to Sara; it’s not a secret that Martin loves the theatre.

 

They sit down, near the back, and wait for the auditions to begin. First, they audition the pirates. This is the role Mick has evidently decided he was born to play, and he delivers a rather alarmingly accurate sea shanty as his audition, staring directly at the casting table. Sara can’t see Professor Stein’s face, but his quivering voice suggests he’s sufficiently intimidated by Mick’s performance.

 

Next are the lost boys, which Ray and Nate are up for, and they take great delight in delivering a few lines from the play in between swinging homemade wooden swords at each other. The mass of auditionees (mostly theatre majors, Sara notices) seem entertained, at any rate.

 

It’s after this is done that the auditions for the main parts begin, and Sara begins to clutch her audition piece tighter. There are so many girls auditioning for Wendy that are called up onstage. A few of them catch Sara’s eye, but nobody really stands out as being amazing, until Ava Sharpe steps up.

 

She stands centre stage and looks out into the audience, and Sara feels as if Ava is staring straight through her. She has mixed feelings regarding Ava Sharpe. On one hand, she’s uptight and probably wouldn’t know the meaning of fun even if it smacked her in the face. But on the other hand, she’s really hot. And a damn good actress, Sara remembers, as Ava delivers the best audition thus far.

 

So what if Sara had been to see the summer play that Star City University had put on last semester featuring Ava in a supporting role? And so what if she was half the reason Sara wanted to audition? For some reason, she can’t seem to shake Ava off her mind, even though she sometimes finds her infuriating on a personal level. That being said, their paths don’t cross much.

 

There’s no doubt in Sara’s mind that Ava is going to be cast as Wendy.

 

Finally, they start calling people for the role of Peter Pan.

 

Sara sees Gary Green audition, and his attempts to be a leading man kind of make her want to laugh. Rip Hunter auditions, too. He’s been a staple of the university’s theatre productions since he was a freshman, and he delivers a decent audition, although in Sara’s opinion, he’s failed to capture the reckless abandon that she’s seen in Peter’s character.

 

Her palms are sweating.

 

“Sara Lance,” Professor Stein reads from his list of names, somewhat puzzled, and Sara takes in a deep breath as she makes the long walk down to the stage. She climbs the steps, tucking the audition paper she’s memorised into the back pocket of her jeans as she takes her place centre stage. She scrunches her face up against the blinding lights as she tries to make out Martin’s face.

 

“Hi,” she says, somewhat dumbly.

 

“I apologise, my dear, did I not call you along with the other Wendys?” Stein asks apologetically.

 

“Actually, I’m auditioning for Peter,” Sara explains, heart hammering in her chest.

 

A murmur goes through the crowd, which Sara determinedly ignores, as Professor Stein’s eyebrows raise in surprise.

 

“I see,” he says, although it seems like he doesn’t.

 

“I just don’t see any reason why a girl can’t play the part,” Sara defends. “Besides, girls and women have been playing Peter Pan since the original play was staged in 1904.”

 

(Sara had made sure to do her research.)

 

“That is very true,” Martin nods. “Of course. Whenever you’re ready.”

 

Sara bites back a smile, takes a steadying breath, and goes for it.

 

*****

 

“Wow,” is the first thing Zari says to her as she joins her friends again at the back of the auditorium. “I didn’t know you could actually act.”

 

“Yeah, well,” Sara clears her throat. “I’m a woman of mystery.”

 

Zari snorts. “Whatever you say.”

 

“You were good too,” Sara tells her. She’s not lying; Zari’s audition for Tink – who in this version of the play was a rude, human-sized fairy rather than always being a lighting effect – had been simultaneously hilarious and savage, and had left everyone in stitches.

 

“She is me, I can’t help it,” Zari shrugs. “Pretty ballsy thing you did up there, too.”

 

“I was telling the truth,” Sara says. “Just because Peter is usually played by a dude in this adaptation, doesn’t mean that women haven’t been cast as him for decades.”

 

Zari smirks at her. “Do you get to make out with Wendy?”

 

“You do realise I haven’t got the part yet,” Sara huffs and rolls her eyes. “And I believe there’s a kiss in the script, but it’s not important.”

 

“Sure,” Zari says, clearly not believing a word of it. “If you say so.”

 

“Don’t listen to her, Sara,” Amaya chimes in from Zari’s other side. “You were great, that’s all that matters.”

 

“I was just asking if she had her eye on anyone,” Zari mutters to Amaya, and that sets the two of them off on a conversation that Sara tries her best to tune out of.

 

Instead, her eyes wander the auditorium until she spots Ava sitting near the front, in between Gary and Rip. Sara frowns slightly. Great; she’s boxed in by Peter wannabes. Both of them clearly think they’re in with a shot.

 

Somehow, Ava must sense her staring, because the next thing Sara knows, they’re making steady eye contact across the auditorium. Sara gets the impression that they’re both sizing each other up, but she can’t quite work out whether this is a positive or a negative thing.

 

“Thank you all,” Martin stands up, clapping his hands together once to get everyone’s attention. “The cast list will be posted tomorrow at two in the afternoon.”

 

Ava breaks their stare when Gary nudges her for the third time, picking up her bag. Sara turns her attention back to her friends who are all looking at her expectantly.

 

“Food?” Nate asks hopefully.

 

*****

 

The next day, at exactly 2:04pm, Sara sits in a class that is currently overrunning, tapping her finger impatiently on the top of her closed laptop as the professor drones on and on about midterms.

 

Sara’s phone vibrates, but she ignores it. If it’s one of her friends texting her from by the cast list, then she doesn’t want to know. She wants to find out herself.

 

Eventually the professor dismisses them, and Sara books it out of the door and down the hallway. She speed-walks through the maze of corridors until she’s outside the drama office, where a cluster of people are gathered around a single notice on the board.

 

Feeling her heart jack-hammer in her chest, Sara approaches the sheet of paper. She clutches the strap of her messenger bag tightly as she scans the notice.

 

WENDY AND PETER PAN

CAST LIST

Peter Pan --- Sara Lance

Wendy Darling --- Ava Sharpe

Michael Darling --- Gary Green

John Darling --- Rip Hunter

Tink --- Zari Tomaz

Captain Hook --- Damien Darhk

Smee --- Leo Snart

Tiger Lily --- Amaya Jiwe

Tootles --- Wally West

Nibs --- Nate Heywood

Curly --- Ray Palmer

Slightly --- Jefferson Jackson

Doc Swain --- Mick Rory

 

The list continues on, but her brain sort of short-circuits once she reads her name at the top of the cast list. She’s actually done it. She’s managed to get cast as Peter.

 

Opposite Ava Sharpe as Wendy.

 

The thought sends a weird thrill through her.

 

Sara reads that the first meeting is later that evening, in the auditorium, and she turns to see her friends standing off to the side of the noticeboard. Ray is the first to step forward and hug her, and she sinks into the embrace with a grin.

 

*****

 

A few hours later, they’re all trailing into the auditorium and filling up the first few rows. Sara still sits as far back as she can between Amaya and Mick, quietly buzzing with excitement but trying not to show it.

 

Professor Stein shows up and delivers a monologue about theatre, and taking opportunities and the like, and Sara has to elbow Mick to keep him from falling asleep. He grunts in recognition, but looks no more awake than he had done previously.

 

Martin picks up a pile of scripts and rehearsal schedules from the stage floor and begins handing them out to the twenty-eight strong cast, as well as to the technical and backstage crew for reference. Sara begins to flick through her script straightaway, keen to read through her parts and see if she gets to do any cool stunts. From what she skims through, she’s not disappointed.

 

“Now, if I may speak to Miss Sharpe, Mr Hunter, Mr Green, and Miss Lance, please,” Professor Stein says. “The rest of you may go.”

 

Sara lets her friends go and walks over to the front row, where Ava is already sitting with Rip and Gary. She takes a seat near them, leaving a free chair between as Martin stands in front of them, leaning against the stage.

 

“Now, I know both you gentlemen had your hearts set on playing Peter,” he begins, addressing Rip and Gary. “But alongside delivering a fantastic audition, something Miss Lance said really got me thinking. Just because the script says Peter Pan is a male character, doesn’t mean he has to be portrayed by a male student.”

 

Sara averts her eyes. She can feel Rip especially glaring daggers at her.

 

“In the end it came down to Miss Lance having the best portrayal of the character in the audition,” Professor Stein assured them all. “However, both of you gentlemen are clearly talented actors, which is why I chose to cast you as the Darling brothers.”

 

Gary smiles widely, but Rip still looks sour. In a way, Sara doesn’t blame him. To him, Sara is a complete nobody who came in and snatched a leading role away from him. But she can’t really bring herself to care about his hurt feelings. Not when she’s actually really excited for this play.

 

Stein dismisses Gary and Rip but motions for Sara and Ava to stay.

 

“Everything okay, professor?” Ava asks, a slight frown creasing her brow.

 

“I just wanted to discuss the matter of the kiss scene,” Martin says. “Now, if there’s any reason either of you would be uncomfortable—”

 

“No, it’s all good,” Ava says almost immediately, beating Sara to the punch.

 

She looks at Ava in surprise, and notices Ava blush slightly.

 

“I mean,” Ava clears her throat, “artistic integrity and all that.”

 

“Miss Lance?” Sara startles and sees that Professor Stein is watching her.

 

“I’ve got no problem doing the scene,” Sara assures him, watching Ava out of the corner of her eye. She notices her shoulders relax slightly.

 

“Excellent. Now that the matter is settled, you are free to go,” Stein says. “Although I would suggest reading through some of your scenes together before the official read-through tomorrow.”

 

Professor Stein picks up his bag, nods at them once, and makes his way towards the exit, leaving Sara and Ava sitting a few seats apart on the front row of the auditorium. And suddenly they’re alone. Sara thumbs at her script apprehensively.

 

“So,” she starts. “Are you free to read through some stuff?”

 

Ava shrugs. “Yeah, I don’t have anywhere I need to be. You?”

 

Sara shakes her head, thinking of her evening seminar which she is definitely going to miss. “Nope.”

 

“Cool,” says Ava, clearing her throat and standing up.

 

Confused, Sara watches her make her way up the steps onto the stage and sit down cross-legged. Ava looks at her expectantly, and Sara smiles to herself as she joins her.

 

“Does the stage make you act better?” Sara teases.

 

“No,” either Ava misses the joke or completely ignores it, and it throws Sara off a bit. “It just helps me to visualise.”

 

Sara realises then and there that she’s not an actor. At least not in the way that Ava is, anyway.

 

Sara flicks through the script, skimming the pages until she finds her first lines. She shows the page to Ava.

 

“From here?”

 

“Act one, scene four?” Ava checks. “Yeah, let’s sight-read it first.”

 

“Sight-what?”

 

“Just read out the lines, don’t worry too much about inflection or accent or gestures,” Ava explains. “It’s just so we can get an idea of what it sounds like out loud.”

 

“Ah, gotcha,” Sara says, dropping her eyes to the page, but not before sneaking a look at Ava sat across from her on the stage bent over her script.

 

The scene starts with a short Wendy monologue, praying to her lost brother Tom (a new character in the adaptation). Ava reads through it all, and Sara can practically see the cogs turning in her brain, thinking of what she can do with each line.

 

They get to the bit where Peter falls in through the window, and Ava continues her lines.

 

 _“Oh, Tom, it’s you,”_ she begins, voice full of hope (even though she’d told Sara not to worry about inflections). _“Oh, Tom! I’m so glad you came back – oh, Tom!”_

 

Sara glances at her first line and tries not to laugh. Of course. But Ava’s looking at her expectantly again, so she goes ahead and says it.

 

_“Ow – my bum.”_

 

Sara knows she has another line, but she can’t help but crack up.

 

Ava rolls her eyes. “Would it kill you to take it seriously?”

 

“You try saying it with a straight face,” Sara defends herself.

 

“Ow – my bum,” Ava says, making dead eye contact with Sara. Not a single muscle twitches.

 

“You have no sense of humour,” Sara tells her.

 

“Keep telling yourself that, Lance,” Ava says. “It says ‘Wendy and Peter lock eyes for the first time’ and Peter is suddenly love-struck.”

 

“I thought you said not to worry about inflections,” Sara challenges.

 

“I’m just reading the stage directions,” Ava says, arching an eyebrow at Sara. “Your line.”

 

“Right,” Sara says, looking back at her script. _“Hello. Hi.”_

_“You’re not Tom.”_

_“Bump,”_ Sara says, furrowing her brow at the odd line, which starts to make sense as she reads ahead slightly.

 

 _“What?”_ Ava asks.

 

_“Ow – I bump-ed – nothing to do with my—”_

_“Bum.”_

“This play is so British,” Sara comments, putting on an over-the-top accent as she tests the word out on her tongue. “Bum.”

 

“Focus,” Ava reminds her, but she almost cracks a smile. Sara thinks of it as a victory, and looks to her next line.

 

_“No.”_

Ava reads the stage directions aloud. Sara tries to follow along. Something about a bright light which Sara assumes to be Tink zooming past. Peter catches it and puts it in a jug.

 

 _“Okay, all right – get back – what is that?”_ Ava reads. _“Who are you?”_

Sara is surprised to read that Peter pulls a dagger out.

 

 _“Oh – okay, okay – no,”_ Ava says. “Right, and then Wendy drops the teddy bear. ‘Peter lowers the dagger, picks up the bear and offers it to Wendy, gently – who takes it hesitantly and holds it to her.’” Sara follows along in her mind as best she can as Ava reads. _“Thanks.”_

According to the stage directions, Wendy goes to touch Peter to see if he’s real, but he pulls back from her.

 

 _“No,”_ Sara begins, _“No one touches me. Not ever. You’ve got a lovely biscuit face. What? I’m going to go now.”_

Sara scoffs at the term ‘biscuit face’.

 

“I don’t get it.”

 

“Peter’s being awkward,” Ava explains. “I don’t know where biscuits come into it, though,” she admits.

 

“Got it.”

 

(Sara doesn’t really get it.)

 

 _“I’m Wendy,”_ Ava says. “ _Wendy Moira Angela Darling.”_

Sara follows along in the stage directions that Peter steps back nervously from Wendy once again.

 

 _“Are you afraid of girls?”_ Ava continues her line.

 

 _“No. I’m not afraid of anything,”_ Sara replies. _“Are you afraid of boys?”_

_“Not normally. But you—”_

_“Are particularly terrifying.”_

_“No—”_

_“Very savage.”_

_“No.”_

_“Incredibly brave,”_ Sara grins. She’s beginning to like this script more.

 

_“You’ve broken into my bedroom in the middle of the night. It’s – creepy.”_

_“I haven’t broken in; actually, I fell.”_

_“What were you doing outside?”_ Ava asks.

 

_“Looking.”_

_“Still creepy,”_ Ava raises an eyebrow at Sara over the top of the script. _“Creepier – in fact.”_

_“No – I – I’ve come to collect something – my shadow,”_ Sara feels herself getting into the script more as the scene progresses, finding that if she actually takes Ava’s advice and concentrates, then she can picture the scene better in her mind.

 

Ava, too, seems at ease running lines, and it strikes Sara that this is what she’s used to.

 

“Hang on,” Sara says a little while later. “I’ve got multiple shadows?”

 

“Yeah, seems so,” Ava says. “I believe there’s a team of six people who lift you up and stuff.”

 

“Flying,” Sara grins. “That’s the bit I’m looking forward to most.”

 

Ava shakes her head slightly, a smile threatening to tug at the corners of her mouth as she refocuses on the script page.

 

 _“Whoa, whoa – Wait, wait – tell me who you are right now or I’ll scream,”_ She reads, then pauses before reading the stage directions. “’The shadows all point to themselves’, and Wendy says… _No – you – bum boy – with the hair.”_

This time it’s Ava who starts laughing. Sara doesn’t think she’s heard her laugh before, and she feels herself smiling.

 

“I am so calling you bum boy.”

 

“Don’t you dare,” Sara warns.

 

“Or what?” Ava raises an eyebrow challengingly, and Sara wants to come out with one of her usual retorts that involve either a threat of bodily harm, or an innuendo, but she resists the temptation. If she and Ava are going to be working together, it’s best she doesn’t. Instead, she merely shrugs, and Ava smirks victoriously as she reads her next line. _“How did you? Where did they – they’ve gone? Who are you?”_

Noticing that this is the point at which the shadows will pick Sara up, Sara takes glee in speaking her next lines. _“I’m Pan. Pirate killer, prince of the seas, demon of the skies – the most savage, the incredible, unbeatable and blinking majestical – Peter Pan.”_

_“That’s… amazing.”_

_“You don’t sound very amazed.”_

_“I thought the – the boy who’s been at the window… I thought it was someone else. Not you.”_

_“Who?”_

_“No one, it doesn’t matter,”_ Ava reads aloud. _“It – was stupid of me.”_

Sara stretches her legs out, realising just how long this scene is. It hits her then that she’s going to have to learn all this off by heart at some point.

 

“Okay,” Ava continues, “It says that Wendy sits sadly in the side of the bed and Peter comes over to her. Your line.”

 

 _“It looks like your face might rain. Please don’t rain, biscuit face, you’ll get all soggy,”_ Sara snorts in amusement. “Alright, if you’re calling me bum boy then I get to call you biscuit face, it’s only fair.”

 

“You—” Ava sighs. “Fine, I guess.” She clears her throat as she reads ahead. “It says here that ‘Wendy looks up into Peter’s face, they lock eyes – for a moment it might be a kiss.’”

 

Ava looks at Sara carefully over the top of her script. Sara meets her gaze, unsure of exactly which emotion is playing across Ava’s features. Her skin feels hot all of a sudden, and Sara drops her eyes back down to her script.

 

“Your line,” Sara manages, clearing her throat. Ava startles, but recovers quickly.

 

_“I’m going to scream now, if that’s okay?”_

_“Really?”_

_“You said you were a savage killer or something so – I should probably…”_

_“Six out of seven dwarves aren’t happy.”_

_“What?”_ Ava questions, and Sara’s actually having fun now.

 

 _“Trying to make you laugh,”_ she says.

 

_“Still going to scream.”_

_“Right. Um… I – um—”_

“’Wendy takes a deep breath,’” Ava reads from the stage directions. “’Peter doesn’t know what to do, he’s all at a loss, arms flailing, trying to sort of patch Wendy but unsure how. Wendy looks at him struggling and smiles softly – she laughs a little.’”

 

Sara smiles at how into the script Ava is.

 

Suddenly, her phone rings.

 

They both jump, looking at each other with matching surprise. Sara apologises, and answers her phone with a hissed, ‘what?’

 

“It’s just me,” she hears Ray’s voice on the other end of the call. “I was just checking to see if you were okay, cause you haven’t shown for dinner at Amaya’s. Family Friday, remember?”

 

“What time is it?”

 

“Seven thirty.”

 

“What?” Sara’s nonplussed. That can’t be the time.

 

“Are you coming?”

 

“I—” Sara looks at Ava, who mouths ‘it’s okay’. “Yeah, just give me ten minutes to get there.”

 

“Okay, Amaya made lasagne!” Ray says excitedly before hanging up.

 

Sara looks at Ava somewhat apologetically. “Sorry, I guess I’ve got to go.”

 

“It’s fine,” Ava shrugs. “I didn’t realise how long we were running lines for.”

 

“Yeah, me neither,” Sara muses. She stands up, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. “On Fridays I have dinner with the guys so… it’s kind of tradition.”

 

“I get it, you don’t need to explain yourself,” Ava says.

 

“You can come with, if you want?” Sara has no idea where the offer came from. Family Friday has always been just her, Amaya, Ray, Nate, Zari and Mick, all the way from halfway through freshman year. Yet here she is, inviting Ava like it’s nothing after spending only a couple of hours in her company.

 

“No, that’s okay,” Ava says. “I, um, have assignments to do anyway.”

 

“Yeah, no worries,” Sara stumbles over both her words and her feet, cursing herself internally. She’s usually much smoother than this. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“See you tomorrow,” Ava echoes as Sara practically runs down the stairs and heads for the door.

 

*****

 

Nine and a half minutes later Sara knocks on Amaya’s door.

 

She rests her hands on her knees and lets out a breath. She’d run all the way to the off-campus apartment that Amaya shares with Zari and Nate, and she stands and wipes away some sweat from her forehead.

 

Amaya opens the door and pulls her into a hug.

 

“You made it,” she smiles at Sara, who nods mutely, still regulating her breathing. She’s not unfit by any stretch of the imagination, but extended periods of running are still her least favourite form of exercise.

 

Sara walks into the apartment to see her friends already squashed in around the small kitchen table. A plate of lasagne and salad is laid out for her already, and she shoots Amaya a grateful look.

 

“What kept you?” Nate asks as Sara sits down. “It’s not like you to forget Family Friday.”

 

“I – uh,” Sara considers lying, but she hadn’t been doing anything wrong, so she tells the truth. “I was running lines with Ava.”

 

“Ava Sharpe?” Zari asks.

 

“Yeah,” Sara says. “We are co-stars, after all. Besides, Stein told us to.”

 

She doesn’t know why she’s getting defensive over this. But she digs into the food all the same, not realising how hungry she’d been up until this point. Amaya really is an amazing cook.

 

“I’m excited for the full read-through tomorrow,” Ray grins.

 

“Me too, actually,” Zari says, and everyone turns to look at her in surprise. “What? From the looks of it, I get to spend most of my time insulting people. It’s like, the perfect role.”

 

“Fair point,” Sara concedes. “Can you do a convincing East London accent though?”

 

Zari considers for a second. “’Ello, guv’nor,” she says in an exaggerated cockney voice. “Fancy a trip up the apples and pears?”

 

The rest of them just stare at her.

 

“Okay, I admit, it needs work,” Zari says. “Give me time.”

 

Sara laughs, shaking her head fondly at her family of idiots.

 

*****

 

The next afternoon is the read-through.

 

All the cast are there, and Stein instructs them to sit in a circle on the stage so that they can all see each other. They go from the top, and Sara really shouldn’t be surprised that Ava has very nearly perfected her English accent already.

 

After a while, they get to the scene that Ava and Sara had read through yesterday. This time, Sara tries it with the accent, and is pleased to find that hers probably won’t be the worst attempt by far.

 

They get to the part of the scene that’s new territory for them after the abrupt end to last night’s practice, and Sara begins to feel the nerves clawing at her stomach at the unfamiliarity.

 

 _“You all right?”_ Ava reads, although she seems to be directing it at Sara as well as at her character.

 

 _“Yeah,”_ Sara answers, shooting her a grateful smile.

 

_“What are you doing?”_

_“Um… I was trying to – make it better. I think.”_

“’Peter tries to lean against something and stumbles,’” Stein reads out the stage directions, as he has been doing for the duration of the read-through so far. “’Wendy laughs.’”

 

 _“The most savage?”_ Ava laughs.

 

Sara thinks she has a really pretty laugh. _“I tripped.”_

_“Over your shadow?”_

_“On my shoelace.”_

_“You’re not wearing any shoes.”_

The scene continues on, and Sara just about feels herself start to relax. That is, until she sees the next line.

 

 _“I’ll give you a kiss,”_ Ava says, and Sara ignores the few low giggles that come from the rest of the cast (mostly from her friends).

 

_“A kiss?”_

_“If you’re going to be a boy about it.”_

_“A kiss? Really?”_ Sara knows that Peter is meant to sound eager, but she still has to fight down a blush. She rolls her eyes at herself internally.

 

_“Yes, but only because you are quite…”_

_“Quite what?”_

_“Do you want one or not?”_ Ava reads hurriedly, and Sara knows it’s acting, she really does, but she doesn’t know if she’s imagining the red creeping up Ava’s neck. Ava is studiously avoiding her eyes, at any rate.

 

“’Peter puts out his hand,’” Stein says. “’The shadow looks away, embarrassed.’”

 

“Me too,” Sara hears Zari mutter. “Peter Pan has no game.”

 

 _“Oh,”_ Ava reads the rest of her line, sounding somewhat disappointed.

 

“’Wendy, confused, stares at the hand. Wendy grabs a thimble from her dress pocket and puts it in Peter’s hand.’” Stein says.

 

 _“Now I must give you a kiss,”_ Sara reads, and Zari not-so-subtly nudges her side.

 

 _“That wasn’t the deal,”_ Ava says.

 

“’Peter picks a button off the side – the same button that Wendy was meant to sew onto Tom’s jumper.’” Stein says.

 

Ava continues her line. _“A button? Sorry, no – a kiss. There we go; done. Now – where can I find the lost boys?”_

_“I gave you a kiss,”_ Sara says, trying to play up the relief in Peter’s voice. _“I – gave you – a girl – a kiss – and it went fine.”_ She can hear laughter from the rest of the cast, and carries on, emboldened by it. _“Right? You thought it was okay? I mean, I don’t – care – obviously – but you know, on average, you’d say – it went well, right?”_

Sara’s grinning now, pleased that she seems to be able to find the right comedy beats, and Ava glances at her over the top of her script. _“I’ll take it back if you don’t tell me.”_

The teasing tone in her voice makes Sara blank on her next line. It takes Zari elbowing her sharply in the ribs to kick her back into action. As she gets back into the scene, Sara starts to wonder just how much trouble she’s let herself in for.

 

*****

 

The first rehearsal is a few days later.

 

As Stein has decided to block act one only (and there are four acts in this play – Sara’s checked), not everyone is needed, and Sara finds herself in the auditorium with Zari, Ava, Gary, Rip and a few others she doesn’t know, ready to go through the directions of each scene.

 

Watching the first few scenes, Sara has to admit that Professor Stein has some pretty creative ideas for the staging.

 

It’s funny watching the almighty Rip Hunter pretending to be a twelve year old boy. He still doesn’t exactly look happy with his part, and Sara can’t exactly blame him.

 

Later, Martin calls Sara up to the stage to work on the blocking for her big entrance scene. Sara hops up onto the stage as Stein instructs Gary and Rip to stay on their ‘beds’ – which are black stage blocks for the time being – until instructed otherwise.

 

“Miss Sharpe, if you could sit here please,” Stein directs her downstage, closer to the edge of the stage, and to the right. “You’ve just heard your parents talking outside the room, and this is where you’ll set down the nightlight and deliver your monologue.”

 

Ava nods in understanding, and reads through the lines. Sara’s heard her say it a couple of times now, but she’s still enraptured by the way Ava says it.

 

“This is when we’ll have the storm effects going,” Stein says once she’s done. “And then the window will fly open – that will be at the back of the stage – and that’s when Peter Pan tumbles in.”

 

Sara moves with him upstage, as he explains that she’s going to need to fall in through the window.

 

“It can’t be graceful,” he tells her, “but be careful not to hurt yourself, either.”

 

“Roger that,” Sara reassures him, taking a step back before diving into a forward roll and ending up splayed on her back. “That convincing enough?”

 

“Indeed.”

 

Sara gives him a thumbs up from the floor.

 

They get a few pages further into the script, and Sara’s head is swimming with information and instructions, although Stein reassures her that they’ll go over it all until she knows it in her sleep. Sara’s not convinced, but she nods along anyway.

 

“Miss Lance, as you tell Wendy you can’t say anything about the lost boys, you’ll dodge past her and head for the window,” Martin instructs, script in one hand and pencil in the other. “That’s when Wendy says—”

 

 _“I’ll give you a kiss,”_ Ava recites.

 

“Peter turns back suddenly,” Stein says to Sara. “Now, over the next few lines, up until _‘do you want one or not’_ I want you to walk slowly closer to Miss Sharpe.”

“Got it,” Sara says, and she and Ava run through the next lines until they’re standing a couple of feet apart. It’s here Sara fully realises that Ava’s got a few inches on her in height, and she stretches up as tall as she can.

 

Stein rearranges them gently so that they’re both side-on to the imaginary audience, and Sara holds out her hand, as per the stage directions, for the ‘kiss’.

 

“Miss Sharpe, you will take a thimble from your dress pocket – obviously just pretend for now – and put it in Miss Lance’s hand,” Martin tells Ava.

 

“Your dress has pockets?” Sara asks. “Cool.”

 

Ava gives her a strange look, but there’s a smile there somewhere, and it makes Sara want to smile back. She suddenly wonders what’s going to happen during the blocking of their kiss scene.

 

She pushes the thought away. That scene is in act four. And it’s a scene, for fuck’s sake. Is she really that romantically frustrated that she can’t get any girl or guy she wants? That she keeps thinking about the prospect of sharing a kiss with Ava Sharpe, of all people?

 

It’s stupid.

 

At least there’s some fun blocking stuff with Zari as Tink. Turns out Zari will be hiding in the wardrobe for her big entrance.

 

“I’m not going to have to stay in there from the start, am I?” Zari looks unimpressed.

 

“No, we’ll find a way to sneak you in,” Stein promises. “Maybe in a blackout between scenes. Miss Lance, if you may…”

 

 _“When the first baby laughed for the first time its laugh broke into a thousand tiny pieces,”_ Sara reads from her script. _“And they all went skipping about and that was the beginning of—”_

Zari bursts forth from the imaginary wardrobe, slouching with a hand resting on her hip and a sour expression on her face. She’s already got the characterisation down, Sara notes.

 

 _“Fairies,”_ Sara finishes.

 

 _“That’s one thousandth of a baby’s laugh?”_ Ava says disbelievingly.

 

Rip, whose character has since woken up, has the next line. _“Jolly big baby.”_

Ignoring him, Zari turns to Ava. _“You calling me fat? Hm?”_

_“No—”_

_“Glass houses, love,”_ Zari continues, and her accent is improving a bit now. _“I’m not the one in the nightdress kissing boys I never met before, now am I?”_

 

Sara snorts at that.

 

 _“Kissing?”_ Rip looks aghast. _“What? Where? No.”_

_“This is Tink; she gets big when she’s full of feeling,”_ Sara steps closer to Zari on Stein’s instruction. _“Tink, this is Wendy. Be nice.”_

_“Enchanted,”_ Zari says sweetly, doing a mocking little curtsey that Martin approves of, before turning to Sara. _“Peter, we need to leave immediately.”_

_“You can’t,”_ Ava protests.

 

Rip follows the stage directions and stands up on his bed-slash-block. _“Look here, I don’t know who you two think you are or what you’re doing in my bedroom ‘talking’ to my sister, but unless you leave in two seconds I’ll—”_

“This is when you’ll draw your toy sword,” says Stein. “When we source it from props, of course. Miss Lance, this is when the shadows will pick you up and somersault you onto the end of the bed.”

 

“Sorry, they’ll do what now?” Sara looks at Stein nervously.

 

“We’ll dedicate some movement rehearsals to it,” Stein assures her. “I made sure to cast dancers as the shadows, you’ll be in safe hands. Miss Sharpe, carry on.”

 

 _“John – this is Peter Pan. He’s going to take us to Neverland to find our lost boy,”_ Ava says, walking over to Rip and putting a placating hand on his shoulder.

 

Rip turns to look at Ava. _“I don’t like him.”_

They run through another small section, where Gary as Michael wakes up, and Peter tells them that Captain Hook is real. Then it’s one of the sections of the scene Sara’s been looking forward to: A conversation between Peter and Tink.

 

“Now, Miss Tomaz, if you pull Miss Lance aside to stage left,” Stein tells her. Zari looks confused. “Left to you, right to the audience.”

 

Zari nods, a look of understanding crossing her face, and drags Sara by the arm in the direction Stein tells her.

 

 _“You can’t – you can’t do this – Pete,”_ she warns.

 

Ava steps towards them. _“I thought no one could touch him?”_

_“I’m a fairy, it’s different – now keep ya beak out,”_ Zari snaps. _“Peter – just think about it – she tells her family and they’ll put us in a jar or a box or worse – stick a tree up my—”_

_“How can she tell them?”_ Sara cuts her off, hearing the giggling from behind her at Zari’s line. _“She’ll be in Neverland. Just think how pleased the boys will be when they see I’ve brought them a mother!”_

_“Mother? You are kidding. What’s got into you?”_

_“I’m just being kind and helping this poor girl find her brother.”_

_“Oh hark, my tiny violin,”_ Zari rolls her eyes. _“You know as well as I do he ain’t on Neverland yet and taking her there looking is only slowing it down.”_

They run through the rest of the scene, including the logistics of flying. Sara can’t wait for flying lessons once the rig is set up.

 

Finally, Stein claps his hands together.

 

“That’s all for today,” he says. “In two days’ time we will block act two so make sure to check if you’re needed. I believe it’s everyone except Mr and Mrs Darling.”

 

Just before Zari drags Sara away, complaining about her empty stomach, she catches Ava give her a small wave. Sara smiles at her, wondering how she could have ever thought her previous impression of Ava had been right.

 

*****

 

It’s nearly a week until they get to blocking act four.

 

Everything in Sara’s brain is currently Peter Pan-related. She can’t concentrate in class, although she never tried that hard anyway, and she’s trying to get a head-start on learning her script because she knows it’s going to take her a while. She runs lines with Zari, and Amaya, and Ray and Nate (she’s now more thankful than ever that she made them all audition). And she runs lines with Ava, too.

 

They’d exchanged numbers after the blocking of act two (“To arrange our own rehearsals,” Ava had said), but the texts about lines and the play had slowly branched out to include Sara complaining about class and Ava venting about how irritating Gary was being.

 

Ava had even sent her a goodnight text once or twice.

 

It scares Sara slightly how quickly Ava has slotted into her life. It’s for sure something she hadn’t expected once they were cast together, and even though learning lines is stressing her out, she always feels more at ease whenever Ava is helping her.

 

They have little arguments here and there, of course. They’re usually about Sara messing around during rehearsal, or Ava’s inability to take a joke when Sara claims she’s just getting into character, but the arguments always end up being resolved sooner or later.

 

At the blocking for act four, scene one (or, The Kiss, as Sara has taken to thinking of it), Stein explains that the rigging from the ceiling for flying purposes will also include something that resembles a cloud for them to fly on.

 

“It’ll be like a mobile that hangs above a baby’s crib,” Stein explains. “And anyone flying will be harnessed and connected to one of the points on it which will allow you to fly safely.”

 

“Just how big is the budget for this play?” Sara asks.

 

Stein doesn’t answer, but he smiles.

 

“Okay, so we’re up on the cloud, talking about the lost brother Tom,” Ava sets the scene. “They’ve had all the character growth and so on. Where do we take it from?”

 

Martin points to a line in the script; one of Sara’s lines. Sara takes a breath, and tries to imagine she’s on a floating cloud.

 

_“Just one happy thought – pure happy.”_

“’Wendy stops panicking,’” Stein reads. “’She looks at Peter, then she looks out at the night and from somewhere deep inside her she pulls the strongest bit of fight that she’s ever found. Wendy stands – puts both feet on the edge of the cloud…’”

 

 _“I am Wendy Darling,”_ Ava says. _“I am brave and I am strong and I am going on an adventure.”_

“’Wendy steps off the cloud and flies, soars out over the clouds,’” Stein says, motioning Ava to come and stand by him. “’Peter leaps off the cloud and flies with her.’”

 

Sara comes to stand with Martin and Ava, as the professor explains that they’ll fly around for a bit before landing on the stage.

 

“Try and land close together, almost in an embrace if you can,” he says, encouraging them closer until there’s less than a foot between them. Sara looks up at Ava, and sees that Ava is resolutely looking over the top of her head. Sara frowns.

 

“’Wendy turns to Peter; he is already looking at her as if he has seen something new,’” Stein reads, and Ava glances down at Sara before saying her next line.

 

_“What?”_

“This is where the kiss happens,” Stein points out, as if Sara isn’t already aware of this fact. “We won’t cover that today, but if you ladies are comfortable, we’ll put it in rehearsals when we get to this scene?”

 

“Sure,” Sara manages, and Ava nods mutely.

 

Sara doesn’t know quite why she’s feeling so nervous about this. It’s a stage kiss. Granted, she’s never done a stage kiss before, but she still doesn’t understand what about it has her on edge.

 

*****

 

“You’re nervous about the kiss?”

 

Sara’s in Zari’s room, running lines (she swears she spends eighty per cent of her time running lines now) as they snack on cookies.

 

Sara breaks a chunk off the cookie she’s been fiddling with for a good few minutes. “I guess,” she admits. “I’m just not sure _why_ I’m nervous about it.”

 

“Clearly it’s not first kiss nerves,” Zari raises an eyebrow and smirks.

 

Sara thumps her. “Asshole.”

 

“I mean, you are going to have to kiss someone in front of a big audience,” Zari chews on her cookie thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s it.”

 

“Yeah, probably,” Sara says, but she’s still not convinced.

 

*****

 

A couple of weeks pass without incident, although Sara’s days are full of rehearsals. She’s pretty much nailed the accent by this point, but she finds she can only manage it when she says her lines.

 

(Zari had once asked her to say something unrelated to the play in an English accent and had laughed at the result for a full three days.)

 

Sara spends quite a lot of her days with Ava now. Not all of it is Peter Pan related, either. They go for food a few times and just… chat. And it’s nice. Ava still kind of has a stick up her ass, but Sara finds she doesn’t mind it. Besides, Ava’s starting to prove that she might have a personality beyond ‘workaholic actor with no sense of humour’ and Sara’s very excited about that.

 

(She remembers the first time Ava laughed – a proper, full laugh.

 

“You’re not a robot!” Sara had exclaimed.

 

Ava had thrown her script at Sara.)

 

There’s something about Ava that intrigues her, and makes her want to get to know her better. And she thinks Ava wants to get to know Sara better too, if the genuine smiles and lazy morning texts are anything to go by.

 

In fact, if Ava experiences feelings like a regular human being, Sara would swear that Ava might be a little bit into her.

 

But she isn’t, Sara decides. Ava’s not exactly a shy person, and so if she had a crush on Sara she would’ve told her.

 

So, Sara puts it to the back of her mind, and accepts Ava’s texted invitation to run lines yet again.

 

*****

 

Sooner than expected, the flying rig is fitted and ready to go, and Sara gets an email from Professor Stein telling her that her first flying lesson is scheduled for the next day. Zari gets one too, Sara guesses, if the bombardment of messages she sends to the Family groupchat are any indication.

 

_I’m a fucking fairy and imma soar majestically_

_hey dickwads guess who’s a goddamn eagle_

_Im going to flyyyyyyyy bitches_

It’s the last message that really clues Sara in.

 

Sara and Zari turn up at the auditorium the next day to find Ava already there, along with Rip and Gary. Stein joins them a couple of minutes later, seemingly very excited to get them up in the air for the first time.

 

Sara’s buzzing with anticipation, and quickly volunteers to be the first one to test the rig. She waits as a stage hand fits her with a slightly uncomfortable harness which she guesses will be hidden under her costume for the actual performances, and stands in place under one of the arms of the mobile.

 

There are four arms, and a set of cables from the centre as well, totalling five flying hook-ups.

 

Sara’s clipped in, gives a thumbs up once she’s ready, and then she feels a tug and suddenly her feet are leaving the ground.

 

She lets out a laugh, watching as the people on the stage shrink. Sara goes higher, until she’s almost at the mobile, and then the arms start to turn. Slowly at first, but it means Sara is flying around the stage in a circular motion, whooping as she begins to pick up speed.

 

Her stomach feels like it’s somewhere near her throat, but Sara doesn’t care.

 

She tries a front flip in the harness (having gotten the all-clear earlier) and winces at the discomfort, but even that won’t stop her from doing it again in the future. She looks down at her castmates, noting the awe on their faces as they watch her. Ava’s mouth is practically hanging open.

 

All too soon, Sara’s being lowered back down to the stage floor.

 

She trips as she lands, not accustomed to the feeling, and stumbles. A pair of arms catch her before she falls, and somehow she knows it’s Ava who’s holding onto her.

 

She looks up, and finds she was right. Ava’s looking down at her with that same awestruck expression she’d had when Sara was flying high above her, and Sara grins back at her.

 

“That was fucking incredible,” Sara announces.

 

“Me next!” Zari shoulder-barges Gary out of the way.

 

Sara waits until she’s unclipped, before loosening the straps of the harness and pushing it down her legs. She picks it up and gives it to the stage hand, thanking him as he heads over to Zari.

 

“Seems like you had fun,” Ava comments.

 

“Just you wait,” Sara tells her. “It’s better than sex.”

 

Ava’s cheeks redden. “Seems unlikely.”

 

Sara shrugs. “Maybe I just haven’t been having good sex, then.”

 

Ava bites her lip, shaking her head and looking past Sara to where Zari is being lifted into the air.

 

*****

 

“Wasn’t it, like, the best thing ever?” Sara questions Ava once everyone else has gone.

 

“It was fine,” Ava says.

 

Sara scoffs disbelievingly. She’d seen the look on Ava’s face the moment her feet had left the ground.

 

“Just fine?”

 

“It… was a bit terrifying,” Ava admits, in a rare show of weakness.

 

Sara considers this for a second. “I guess all the best things are.”

 

“Hmm,” Ava tilts her head to the side. “You might have a point.”

 

Sara gasps dramatically, holding her hand over her heart. “You mean I’m _right_?”

 

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Ava warns.

 

“Too late.”

 

“Are we running this scene or not?” Ava changes the subject, gesturing to her script with her free hand.

 

“Sure, which one?” Sara asks.

 

“Act four scene one,” Ava clears her throat, and Sara’s heart skips a beat.

 

Right. Act four scene one. Of course.

 

They run the scene, and Sara’s pleased that she doesn’t have to totally rely on the script anymore. They incorporate as much of the blocking as they can, but obviously they can’t do the flying bit without the stage hands there to help them, and operate the flying rig.

 

_“I am Wendy Darling. I am brave and I am strong and I am going on an adventure.”_

There’s an awkward pause after Ava’s line. Both of them know what’s coming. Or, at least, what’s meant to. Sara registers that they’re standing very close together.

 

“Do you…” Ava starts, fixing her eyes on a point somewhere over Sara’s shoulder. “I mean, should we practice—”

 

“The kiss?” Sara finishes.

 

“Yeah,” Ava says. “Unless you want to leave it until the rehearsal.”

 

“No, now is fine,” Sara says, wondering why her stomach is back in her throat when her feet are planted firmly on the ground. “Just so the first time isn’t in front of everyone.”

 

“Yeah,” Ava breathes.

 

“Okay, um, do you want to take it from your line?” Sara asks, trying to re-establish her character.

 

“Sure,” Ava says, glancing at her script.

 

Sara takes a deep breath as subtly as she can.

 

 _“What?”_ Ava says her line, and that’s Sara’s cue, but she’s hesitating. She looks at Ava, really looks at her, and tries to channel Peter Pan’s confidence.

 

Sara cups Ava’s cheek with her free hand as she closes the distance, pushing up onto her toes as she closes her eyes and presses a kiss to Ava’s lips. She hears the sound of Ava’s script falling to the floor, and then her arms are around Sara’s waist, pulling her closer still. Sara kisses her firmly, her hand moving to hold the back of Ava’s head as she runs her fingers through her hair.

 

Ava kisses her back, her lips moving torturously slowly over Sara’s own as they both melt into it. Sara chases her lips when she thinks Ava is moving back, capturing them again even as she is becoming less and less aware of what she’s doing. Ava balls the fabric of Sara’s shirt in her hands as her lips part, and Sara uses the opportunity to suck gently on Ava’s bottom lip. She almost swears the action draws a sound from Ava.

 

Suddenly, Ava breaks the kiss.

 

Sara’s eyes fly open as she settles back on her heels, both of them still holding onto each other.

 

“I just remembered, I, um… have to go,” Ava stammers, her arms dropping from around Sara’s waist as she takes a step back. “I have a thing, at a place, so…”

 

“Yeah, of course,” Sara manages, head spinning. Her arm drops to her side.

 

“See you later,” Ava says, scooping her script up before grabbing her bag and damn near bolting for the door.

 

“See you,” Sara says, but Ava’s already gone, leaving Sara alone in the middle of the stage wondering why that one kiss had felt better than flying.

 

*****

 

Sara doesn’t see Ava for two days, and it’s weird.

 

Ava’s not answering any of her texts either, and Sara doesn’t think they’ve gone this long without talking in weeks. She misses it. She misses _Ava_.

 

She tells herself to get over it, that Ava’s probably just busy with assignments or working on the scenes she has with other people, but the way Ava had bolted after their kiss makes Sara feel uneasy. She feels like she’s done something wrong, even though the kiss itself had felt the furthest thing from wrong to her.

 

Their next rehearsal is set to go over a few scenes they’ve already covered, as well as rehearsing act four scene one, and so Sara is eager to find Ava and clear the air between them. Trouble is, she doesn’t actually know where Ava lives, so she waits until the day of that rehearsal to see her.

 

“Ava, hey!” Sara spots her talking to Gary, which is strange, because Ava is always complaining about how annoying Gary is.

 

Ava chokes, going into a mini-coughing fit as a concerned Gary pats her on the back.

 

“Are you okay?” Sara asks, rushing to her side.

 

“Fine,” Ava manages, getting the coughing under control.

 

“It’s just, I haven’t heard from you in a couple days,” Sara says.

 

“My phone died,” Ava says quickly.

 

Sara knows she’s being lied to, but she lets it slide for the sake of Ava’s comfort.

 

“Right,” she says. “Well, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay, that I haven’t done anything to make you uncomfortable—”

 

“No, no, you’re fine,” Ava says, looking between Sara and Gary nervously.

 

“Because the last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable,” Sara explains, and Ava’s expression softens minutely.

 

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” she assures Sara. “I’ve just been busy the past couple days.”

 

“And your phone died,” Sara reminds her.

 

“Yeah, that too.”

 

“Ava—”

 

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen,” Professor Stein interrupts their conversation by getting everyone’s attention. “Today we are going over act two scene two and then we are going to tackle act four scene one later.”

 

“Right, well, I’d better…” Ava jerks a thumb over her shoulder. “Stein said they’re going to rig me up to actually come down from the ceiling this time, so—”

 

“Wow, good luck,” Sara says, cringing at herself as soon as the words are out of her mouth.

 

But Ava is already giving her a tight smile and scurrying off into the wings to talk to the stage hands. Sara sighs. Something is definitely wrong.

 

“Her phone didn’t actually die, she was just avoiding you,” Gary supplies unhelpfully.

 

“Yes, thank you Gary, I’d figured that one out for myself,” Sara rolls her eyes, turning to go sit with Zari and Amaya as the lost boys take their places onstage.

 

*****

 

Sara watches with butterflies in her stomach as Wally West, who’s playing Tootles, shoots down Ava-as-Wendy. Ava, safely harnessed in, is lowered from the ceiling to the stage floor. It’s just a test run for now; Sara knows that they’ll make it look more realistic towards the end of the rehearsal process, but she’s still worried that Ava might get hurt.

 

 _“Tink?”_ Wally says, looking at where Ava lies on the floor. _“Tink, this doesn’t look like a bird. Tink?”_

Wally looks around for Tink’s light, but Tink is gone.

 

_“I think I may have made a mistake.”_

There’s a few snickers from the assembled cast. Sara gets up from her seat and quietly makes her way to the wings, ready to make her entrance later in the scene. She watches Nate and Ray play their parts as lost boys, and she smiles at how much fun they seem to be having with it.

 

Once it’s time for her entrance, Sara allows herself to be lifted up by her six ‘shadows’ and carried onstage. They grip her securely, and take her into a slow airborne backflip, putting her safely down on the ground after. By the time of the performances those stunts will be faster and smoother, but for now they’ve agreed to keep it slow and safe.

 

Sara goes through her lines, as the lost boys shield Ava from sight.

 

 _“Yes – I brought you a mother. She’s great, isn’t she? That thing she does with her face – right?”_ Sara looks around at the boys. _“Right?”_

The lost boys exchange looks, and then part to reveal Ava still lying on the floor.

 

 _“Oh,”_ Sara says. _“She’s dead.”_

That pulls a laugh from her friends, at least. They carry on with the scene until Ava stirs. At the time, Sara is about to plunge an imaginary arrow into Wally’s chest for shooting her.

 

 _“You shot the Wendy?”_ She demands.

 

Ava pushes herself up into a sitting position. _“No.”_

_“No?”_ Nate says. _“Someone said—”_

_“She did,”_ Ray stammers, referring to Wendy’s voice.

 

Sara, still holding onto a fistful of Wally’s shirt, looks down at Ava. _“Hello, Wendy.”_

_“It didn’t hit me,”_ Ava says distractedly. _“It hit the… hello, Peter.”_

_“It hit my kiss,”_ Sara notices, pretending there’s a button on a necklace around Ava’s neck with an arrow protruding from it.

 

(Sometimes acting is weird.)

 

Sara lets go of Wally’s shirt. _“My kiss saved your life! My kiss saved her life!”_

_“Well, yes – I guess you could say that,”_ Ava says, as she takes Sara’s offered hand and stands up.

 

They go through the introductions of the lost boys; Tootles, Nibs, Curly and Slightly (who’s being played by Jax; someone Sara had been friends with in their freshman year, although they’ve drifted apart somewhat since).

 

 _“But I need to go and—”_ Ava says.

 

 _“You can’t leave,”_ Ray interrupts her. _“You’re our mother.”_

Ava laughs. _“Your mother?”_

_“Yes,”_ Wally shrugs plainly.

 

 _“You don’t have a mother?”_ Ava asks.

 

 _“We will have little arguments that may seem awful at the time,”_ Jax says, and Sara glances at Ava, who meets her eyes. _“But in the long run they’ll only serve to develop character and bring us closer together.”_

Ava breaks away from Sara’s gaze. _“I can’t be a mother, I’m only a girl – I—”_ She looks around at the lost boys, who are all giving her the puppy-dog eyes.

 

 _“Please, Wendy,”_ Sara steps forwards slightly. _“We’d love you to stay and darn socks and make breakfast and tell stories and—”_

_“Give us medicine,”_ Wally chimes in.

 

 _“And tell us to tuck in,”_ Ray adds.

 

 _“But Peter,”_ Ava protests. _“I have to look for—”_

_“Don’t go,”_ Sara pleads quietly, and Ava holds the pause longer than strictly necessary.

 

 _“But there’s only one of me and all these boys and I’m not sure I can be mother or if I’d have the time because I really should be looking for—”_ Ava rambles, and Sara cuts her off.

 

 _“I could help you,”_ she says. _“I could—”_

_“Be father?”_ Ava asks hopefully.

 

 _“I could play father,”_ Sara agrees. _“Will you stay?”_

_“Well,”_ Ava considers for a second. _“Yes, of course.”_

As per the script, Ava moves forwards to hug Sara, and as per the script, Sara backs away.

 

She doesn’t want to back away.

 

The lost boys cheer, leaving Ava and Sara standing looking at each other, and Sara doesn’t have to imagine the tension between them, because neither of them are acting that bit.

 

Somehow, they get almost to the end of the scene, and the lost boys run off with Michael and John (who have since reappeared). Sara goes to follow them, but Ava catches her arm before she can leave.

 

 _“Hey – wait, um…”_ Ava says, and while Sara knows she’s only following the script, Ava genuinely seems nervous.

 

_“Hm?”_

_“I’m very glad you fell through my window,”_ Ava says, and Sara smiles for a moment, before remembering Peter’s discomfort with anything vaguely emotional and starts monkeying around (literally, she has to pretend to be a monkey to make Wendy laugh). Both Ava and Sara are laughing for a few seconds, before Ava stops and looks at her. _“Are you glad to be father?”_ she asks.

 

 _“One girl is worth more than a thousand boys,”_ Sara answers, holding the eye contact with Ava, and suddenly it’s very intense.

 

 _“Oh,”_ is all Ava says, turning away shyly.

 

Sara makes her exit as she’s supposed to, and by the time Ava turns back, she’s gone.

 

*****

 

Sara manages to catch up with Ava on their break, and finds the awkward tension between them has only increased. She knows that soon the two of them are going to have to kiss in front of everyone, and if Ava had run off after a kiss with no audience, Sara doesn’t like to think of how she’d react this time.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay with the kiss being left in?” Sara asks her as they wait in the wings, watching as the stage hands set up the ‘cloud’ on the flying rig. It hasn’t occurred to her until now, but maybe Ava’s uncomfortable kissing a girl.

 

“Yeah, I’m okay with it,” Ava says, not looking at Sara.

 

“It’s just—” Sara presses on. “It’s just that you’ve done stage kisses before, right?”

 

“One or two,” Ava nods shortly.

 

“Did they freak you out as much as when _I_ kissed you?” Sara’s never been one to hide from confrontation, and Ava’s eyes widen.

 

“I didn’t—”

 

“Listen, if it’s because I’m a girl…” Sara continues. “I get that it’s not a big deal for me cause I’m bi, but if it’s too weird for you—”

 

“I’m a lesbian, Sara,” Ava interrupts her.

 

There’s utter silence for a good few moments as Sara processes this new information. Ava’s a lesbian, and all of Sara’s theories fly out the window.

 

“Oh,” she says.

 

“So, to answer your question,” Ava continues on. “It’s not because you’re a girl.”

 

“Then why did you run away?”

 

Ava turns to look at her, and Sara gets the feeling that she’s trying to work up some courage. Ava takes a deep breath.

 

“I ran away because—”

 

“Places!”

 

Stein’s yell cuts her off and Sara jumps. She’d completely forgotten where she was. She looks at Ava, but she’s turned away from her again, watching as the stage hands make their way over to them, harnesses at the ready.

 

Sara hates it, but she knows she can’t push too hard, for fear of making things worse.

 

*****

 

The prospect of kissing Ava in front of everyone makes Sara more nervous than she cares to admit.

 

They make it through the rescue scene; a big fight scene that Sara’s nearly learned the choreography for, and then it’s just the two of them onstage, harnessed into the flying rig and sitting on a fake cloud talking about painful memories.

 

 _“Just one happy thought,”_ Sara tells her. _“Pure happy.”_

Ava delivers what is maybe turning out to be Sara’s favourite line of hers in the whole play.

 

_“I am Wendy Darling. I am brave and I am strong and I am going on an adventure.”_

And Ava flies.

 

She steps off the cloud and soars as the arms of the mobile start to turn. Sara, hooked up to the opposite arm, takes a deep breath and follows, feeling nothing but air beneath her feet as she whoops in delight at the feeling of flying.

 

Sara can sense her castmates’ awe at the spectacle, and it buoys her to try a few tricks; turning and letting her momentum take her into a semi-graceful backflip. She looks to Ava, who still looks petrified – but the sort of fear that’s also enjoyable.

 

As they get closer to the ground, they’re both able to have more control over their direction. Sara aims towards Ava, and they catch each other just before they hit the ground. It’s not perfect, but their timing is pretty solid for a first attempt.

 

Breathless, Sara keeps a tight hold on Ava’s waist. Ava’s looking out at the imaginary sky, cheeks flushed with adrenaline as her slightly shaking hands grip Sara’s shoulders. Sara knows that her character is gazing at Ava’s character in open awe, and it’s not a hard thing to do at all. Ava turns back to see Sara already looking at her. Sara’s heart is pounding loudly in her chest.

 

_“What?”_

Sara tilts her head up and kisses her.

 

It’s soft, and gentle, and not at all like the first kiss, Sara thinks. She’s dimly aware of the rest of the cast cheering and clapping, and she kind of gets why. Ava’s short nails dig into her shoulders as she kisses back, her lips impossibly soft against Sara’s own.

 

Sara refuses to let herself get carried away this time, and pulls back after a few seconds. Ava’s eyes stay closed for a moment, before she opens them and manages to say her next line.

 

_“A kiss?”_

There’s a long beat, and Sara knows that Peter is pretty much about to break Wendy’s heart.

 

 _“No,”_ she says. _“That’s a kiss – around your neck.”_

_“Well, what was that, then?”_ Ava asks quietly.

 

There’s another pause as they stare at each other, and Sara fights to keep character and actor separate. Her hands fall from Ava’s waist.

 

 _“It is only make-believe, isn’t it?”_ Sara asks, and that stings her for some reason. _“That I am father?”_

_“Oh, um, of course,”_ Ava says.

 

_“I want to always be a little boy and to have fun.”_

Ava looks at her, crestfallen, and Sara’s heart aches. She knows it isn’t real, but she wants nothing more than to comfort her. Ava takes a step back from her until there’s distance between them again.

 

 _“Well then,”_ Ava says sadly. _“I shall leave you to play.”_

She turns away and walks offstage. Sara watches her go.

 

_“Wendy?”_

*****

 

Over the course of the rest of the rehearsals, the tension between Sara and Ava gradually dissipates.

 

At first, it’s still awkward, but it seems that running through the kiss scene in front of an audience has actually helped. It’s made Sara realise that she has a job to do, and that kissing Ava happens to be a part of that job. The kisses they share aren’t theirs alone, and maybe that’s why the first kiss had felt so different.

 

Because the first kiss hadn’t had an audience, and still, no-one knows about it but them. The first kiss is theirs alone, but the rest… they belong to the characters, and to the play. Not to them.

 

Over time, kissing Ava becomes more normal, and finally Ava stops looking like she’s searching for the nearest exit every time she and Sara are alone together. They start texting again, and meeting up for lunch, and running lines.

 

It seems to be an unspoken rule that they don’t run act four scene one.

 

Ava plays musical soundtracks a lot which Sara finds a bit annoying.

 

(What’s more annoying is that she actually likes quite a lot of the music.)

 

Sara wouldn’t say things are back to normal exactly, because that’s not the right way to describe it, but they seem to have reached an understanding of sorts. They don’t talk about the kiss, or what Ava might have said had they not been interrupted, and it suits them just fine.

 

Except Sara still wants to know.

 

*****

 

Tech week is hell.

 

There’s so much stopping and starting, and “can we take it from the top” and it’s infuriating. Sara knows the purpose of tech week is so that the lighting and sound and prop cues can be sorted and so the show will run smoothly. She also knows that tech week is hardest on the backstage crew and not the actors, but she’s still bored out of her mind, and growing more stressed about the actual performances next week.

 

Sara uses her many long breaks to do actual work on her assignments, and she doesn’t know who she’s turned into. Maybe it’s Ava’s influence. She seems to have her life pretty much together.

 

“What are you, functional lesbian or distinguished?” Sara asks her, two days into tech week.

 

“What?”

 

“I’m a disaster bi, myself,” Sara explains, looking up from her packet of gummy worms to see Ava looking at her in utter confusion.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ava says, reaching for the gummy worms. “And eat some proper breakfast.”

 

“Distinguished, then,” Sara decides, stuffing the packet down her shirt and raising a challenging eyebrow at Ava, who huffs in defeat.

 

Stein calls Ava and Amaya up to the stage to go through the tech for one of their scenes, and Sara pulls out the gummy worms again as she watches with interest. She sees Ava give her a withering look for the stage, and Sara sends her a smug little smile in return.

 

Amaya’s portrayal of Tiger Lily is refreshing, to say the least. In _Wendy and Peter Pan_ , Tiger Lily is written as ‘early teens, black with a vibe of impossible cool’ and Amaya is pulling off the updated version of the character really well. She and Ava act well together, their characters wonderfully juxtaposed at this point in the play where Wendy is still timid and Tiger Lily is independent and everything Wendy wants to be.

 

Sara becomes aware of someone sitting next to her, and she turns to see it’s Jax.

 

Pleasantly surprised, Sara offers him a gummy worm.

 

“Long time, no see,” she jokes quietly, and Jax shakes his head in amusement.

 

“Don’t be like that, Sara,” he says.

 

“I’m kidding,” she reassures him. “I know it’s mostly my fault we haven’t spoken lately.”

 

“It’s not,” Jax says. “My course really picked up in sophomore year. I got way too busy and we run in different circles.”

 

“Yeah, you’ve got your engineering buddies,” Sara smiles.

 

“And you got your drama buddies, seemingly,” Jax laughs.

 

Somewhere onstage, Stein asks Ava and Amaya to pause while he has a conversation with the stage manager about a gobo that’s not quite right, but Sara carries on her conversation with Jax regardless.

 

Sara laughs, pushing Jax’s shoulder. “I’m not a drama kid.”

 

“You might as well be now,” Jax shrugs with a grin. “You’re one of the stars of the show.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Nah, it’s true,” Jax says. “In all seriousness, I’m really happy for you. You’re crushing it!”

 

“Really?” Sara asks. “You’re not just saying that?”

 

“Sara,” Jax says earnestly. “You’re doing an amazing job.”

 

“Thanks, little brother,” Sara says, the nickname feeling distant and familiar at the same time as she leans into his side.

 

It feels good to have her friend back.

 

She looks up at the stage to see where they’re at, and catches Ava looking at her with a strange expression. Her features are tight and impassive, and she looks away as soon as she notices Sara looking at her.

 

Sara frowns in confusion.

 

*****

 

They get the tech done by the end of Thursday, which leaves Friday and Saturday free for dress rehearsals. They’ll mercifully get Sunday off before the first performance the following evening.

 

Sara finds she actually loves her costume. She’d been worried about bright green spandex and a feathered cap, but the costume department have also given the character design an upgrade. Sara’s costume is easy to move in, dark green in colour and definitely leaf-inspired. It feels just wild enough for Peter’s character without making her look like an escaped lunatic.

 

She also has some mud-like make-up smeared across her bare arms and her hair is put into a messy bun. Someone even sticks a twig or two in there for decoration. The harness she has to wear under her costume is still uncomfortable, but it’s not noticeable to the outside viewer, and Sara knows the cables are actually pretty invisible too. Well, as invisible as they can get while still being safe.

 

All in all, she’s happy with how she looks.

 

Ava too, looks amazing, in a simple white dress with half her hair pinned back away from her face, and the rest cascading down her back.

 

“Wow,” is what Sara says upon seeing her. “You look—”

 

“Dumb,” Ava says quickly.

 

“Beautiful,” Sara corrects, and Ava laughs nervously, looking down and tucking some of her hair behind her ear, and Sara’s not sure she’s seen this side of Ava before now.

 

“You look incredible, by the way,” Ava recovers. “The suspenders…”

 

Sara hooks her thumbs in them proudly. “I feel like a newsie.”

 

“Was that a musical theatre reference?” Ava asks in disbelief.

 

“God, it was,” Sara realises. “I hope you know this is all your fault.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Ava smiles, her eyes still trailing over Sara’s costume. She feels hot under Ava’s gaze, and that’s the moment the cogs in her brain start to turn. Pushing thoughts of Ava in a more-than-friendly way aside, Sara tries to focus on the task at hand.

 

As it turns out, the performance seems so much more real in costume, and the whole cast run through the much-rehearsed play with a completely new energy. Sara can see the finished product beginning to form, and she’s actually really excited for what the next week will bring.

 

They finally finish their last rehearsal on Saturday evening, and Sara can’t wait to sleep all day tomorrow. She goes back to the dressing room she and Ava have been assigned (because _of course_ they’re sharing a dressing room) and takes her make-up wipes out of her messenger bag.

 

She looks at her reflection in the mirror, still able to feel Ava’s latest kiss from less than an hour ago. Sara sighs. She thinks she might be finally realising the extent of her feelings for Ava. She wonders why it took her this long to put the pieces together.

 

Yawning, she rubs at her arms until they’re clean of the mud effects. Putting the used wipe in the bin, she’s about to reach for another when Ava comes barrelling into the room in a whirlwind of nervous energy.

 

“Ava—” Sara greets tiredly.

 

“I want to rehearse something,” Ava cuts her off, stopping a few feet away from Sara.

 

“Okay,” Sara says. She’s exhausted, but she wants to help Ava out. “What do you want to rehearse?”

 

“This,” Ava breathes, striding closer to Sara with an intense look in her eyes. Sara’s about to question if she’s okay when she feels a hand at the back of her neck as Ava pulls her into a kiss.

 

Sara’s eyes flutter closed on instinct as she registers the feeling of Ava’s lips moving hungrily against her own. She gets over her surprise pretty quickly, suddenly feeling a lot more awake, and kisses her back as her arms wrap around Ava’s waist, pulling her closer.

 

It’s strange; they’ve kissed so many times onstage, but this feels like completely unchartered territory. They haven’t kissed like this, not since the first time all those weeks ago. Even then, this kiss is different.

 

It’s different because Ava initiates it. It’s different because Ava’s kissing her like she’s starving, and Sara’s the only thing that will satisfy her. It’s different because Sara feels like her whole body is burning up.

 

Ava’s kissing her just rough enough to make Sara’s knees want to buckle, and she grips Ava tightly, biting down on her lip because two can play at this game. Ava gasps against her mouth, lips parting in surprise. Sara sucks on Ava’s bottom lip, hard, and this time there’s no mistaking the sound Ava produces as anything other than a guttural moan.

 

Sara feels the hand at the back of her neck tighten slightly as Ava pushes her backwards until she’s pressed against the sideboard where her bag is. Sara arches up into her, not sure where this is all coming from but not wanting to stop and question it because, as it turns out, this is definitely what she wants.

 

And seemingly what Ava wants, too, if the way she’s kissing Sara is any indication. Ava’s free hand rests on Sara’s collarbone, and she feels it start to slide down her chest over her costume. Unable to stop the needy whimper that escapes from her mouth, Sara kisses Ava again and again, getting lost in the feel of her lips.

 

“Hey, Sara, Jax is looking for you and – woah, sorry,” Zari cuts herself off as Sara registers her voice and breaks the kiss.

 

There’s no getting away from how this looks, Sara thinks, as she sees Zari take in the scene before her. Ava has Sara pressed against the sideboard with one hand almost covering her breast. Sara’s breathing hard, arms wrapped around Ava and cheeks flushed.

 

“We were practicing,” Ava says dumbly, after a very long pause. She backs away from Sara, whose brain is still short-circuiting.

 

“I see,” Zari raises an eyebrow. She turns to Sara. “As I was saying, Jax is looking for you. Apparently, you guys have dinner plans.”

 

Right, the dinner plans. Sara remembers now.

 

“I just remembered,” Ava says quickly. “I, um, left something in the auditorium.”

 

Sara looks at her, surprised by the sudden mood change. To her surprise, Ava looks slightly crestfallen as she brushes past Zari and out of the room.

 

“Ava, wait—” Sara calls after her, but she’s already gone.

 

“Okay, what the hell did I just walk into?” Zari asks, eyes wide as she walks towards Sara.

 

“Honestly? I have no idea,” Sara sighs, pulling the twigs out of her hair and putting them in a box labelled ‘hair accessories’. “She rushed in, said she wanted to rehearse something, and kissed me.”

 

“And, clearly, you kissed her back,” Zari says gleefully.

 

“Of course I kissed her back,” Sara says.

 

“You like her.”

 

It’s not a question, but Sara nods anyway. There’s absolutely no denying her feelings for Ava now. In hindsight, Sara thinks these feelings have been there for a really long time. Maybe since the first kiss. Or before.

 

And just like the first kiss, Ava had run away.

 

*****

 

Sara spends the vast majority of Sunday sleeping, and it makes her feel a lot better.

 

It also gives her clarity on the whole Ava situation. Clearly, in her sleep-deprived state, Sara had read too much into what had happened. Ava had wanted to rehearse the kiss, and they’d both simply gotten a little carried away.

 

However, now that Sara’s fully aware of her feelings for Ava, it complicates things. Because if Ava doesn’t feel the same way, Sara doesn’t want to tell her and make things awkward just as they’re about to play love interests for another week in front of a huge audience.

 

She eventually decides to keep quiet about her feelings, at least until the play is over.

 

She goes into class on Monday afternoon barely able to contain her excitement over opening night. Altogether they have eight performances; Monday to Saturday evenings plus two matinees. Sara can’t wait for everyone to see the play, and she’s surprised with just how proud she is of it.

 

When she gets to her dressing room an hour before curtain-up, Ava hasn’t arrived yet, which is unusual. She’s normally so punctual.

 

Or maybe Sara’s just early.

 

She’s halfway through getting changed when Ava does turn up, in her costume pants and her sports bra. She’s reaching for her tank top when she spots Ava in the mirror. Turning around, she greets Ava carefully. “Hey.”

 

“Hey,” Ava replies, resolutely looking Sara in the eyes.

 

“I’m sorry about the other day,” Sara says.

 

“Me too,” Ava says hurriedly. “I didn’t mean to get so…”

 

“Carried away?”

 

“Sure,” Ava nods. “Can we forget about it?”

 

Sara’s heart sinks, but she tries not to let it show. She’s handled rejection before; she can do it again. “Yeah.”

 

Ava visibly relaxes, and Sara thinks maybe she imagines Ava’s eyes dropping to her abs for a split-second as she turns back around to reach again for the tank top. She pulls it over her head and tries not to notice Ava undressing behind her, although the mirrors around the perimeter of the room make that challenging.

 

“Break a leg tonight,” Ava says, and Sara’s learned enough about the theatre to know that means ‘good luck’.

 

She has a feeling she’s going to need it.

 

*****

 

One of Sara’s favourite scenes to do is what has been dubbed ‘bubble ball’.

 

It’s a mad game with a net in the middle, sort of like volleyball, crossed with a bit of soccer, and it’s organised chaos. They’ve all gotten good enough at it to stop the ball flying into the audience, but there’s always a bit of a chance it’ll go wrong. That uncertainty is what Sara lives for.

 

Rip even gets to do a bit of flying. His feet lift from the floor.

 

 _“Ah-ha! Look!”_ Rip yells, and the others barely stop playing the game to watch. Sara sends the ball back to the other side of the net, keeping an eye on Ava, who lets the game continue around her.

 

 _“John?”_ she asks in concern.

 

 _“He’s flying,”_ Nate explains with a whoop.

 

 _“John has found his happy thought!”_ Sara yells, and the others cheer.

 

 _“John, what colour are mother’s eyes?”_ Ava asks worriedly.

 

 _“Brown,”_ says Rip, from eight feet above the ground.

 

 _“They’re blue,”_ Ava corrects. _“What does father do for a living?”_

_“Go, John, go!”_ Ray yells, throwing him the ball. Rip passes it to the other team.

 

 _“Michael?”_ Ava turns to Gary.

 

 _“Father’s a pirate,”_ Gary shouts.

 

 _“No, he’s a lawyer!”_ Ava says desperately. She looks around at the chaos, the tension building. _“How many Darling children are there, John? John?”_

_“Three!”_ Rip yells over the general noise of the game, pointing to each of them. _“Michael, John and Wendy!”_

_“No – you’re wrong – we lost a boy!”_ Ava nearly screams, and Rip ‘crashes’ back down onto the stage. The game of bubble ball stops as they all look at John. There’s a long silence.

 

 _“You’re always ruining all the fun!”_ Rip yells, getting to his feet.

 

_“No – I – John, I’m sorry, I—”_

_“Leave me alone,”_ Rip backs away from Ava, turning and running offstage. There’s another beat of silence.

 

As the rest of the scene happens and Wendy has an argument with Peter, Sara finds herself responding to the audience’s reaction. The energy between them is so much more palpable now that it’s the real thing, and it’s almost overwhelming.

 

*****

 

Towards the climax of the first half of the play, when Wendy has been captured, and Tiger Lily is fighting Hook to try and get her hack, Sara swings in on a rope. She lands, drawing her sword as she sets her sights on Damien Darhk, the asshole senior playing Hook. He’s perfectly cast as the villain, she thinks.

 

 _“Oh, how lovely to see you, old friend,”_ Darhk says.

 

 _“You crinkly-faced, limp-limbed, sad sack of a one-handed cabin boy,”_ Sara answers back, and she loves getting to insult Darhk, she really does.

 

 _“Not the hand, Peter,”_ Darhk admonishes her. _“You know how I feel about the hand.”_

_“Back off, Tiger Lily,”_ Sara hisses to Amaya, who glares at her.

 

 _“Help me Peter!”_ Ava tries to get her attention from where she’s being held. _“Tiger Lily, I’m over here!”_

Amaya sneers at Sara. _“You gonna whine us to death on them nasty-ass pipes?”_

Sara clutches her harmonica to her chest with an indignant gasp. _“I’m actually pretty amazing at the harmonica, the boys say so.”_

_“The danger of a loyal crew, Peter,”_ Darhk comments.

 

Amaya snarls at Sara. _“And what right you reckon you got to play the blues anyway, joy boy?”_ She asks. _“You got no soul, no fire behind the eyes – a thing like vengeance is wasted on a boy that can’t do nothing but play games.”_

(Internally, Sara knows Tiger Lily has a damn good point.)

 

As the fight continues, Sara knows what’s coming. The crocodile is nearing; Smee drags Wendy off. Ava’s practiced scream from offstage unsettles the audience, and Sara-as-Peter falters. It’s enough for Hook to stab Peter before running from the crocodile.

 

Sara gasps, putting a hand to the blood squib that had burst when Darhk had stabbed it. Good thing the fake blood washes out and she’s got a few back up tank tops provided by the costuming department.

 

 _“It is only a game,”_ Sara says, kneeling centre stage and looking out at the audience. _“It is only a game… to die will be an awfully big adventure.”_

The lights go out, the curtain closes, and Sara is deafened by applause. Once she is concealed, she gets to her feet and turns to see Amaya waiting in the wings. Sara can’t touch anyone for fear of getting fake blood on them, but she does get several pats on the back.

 

She’s not even surprised anymore by how much she’s enjoying the show. And how much she’s enjoying acting with Ava.

 

*****

 

“Pull your head out of your ass,” Zari hisses at her, on more than one occasion.

 

*****

 

All week long there’s a weird energy between Ava and Sara. It’s not getting in the way of their performances, but it’s there for sure. Sara doesn’t quite know what it’s about. It comes to a head during the final performance (which comes too soon for Sara’s liking), as Ava seeks Sara out during the interval.

 

“Hey,” Sara greets her, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach at seeing her. It’s ridiculous; she’s been seeing Ava practically every day for ages now.

 

“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” Ava says in lieu of a greeting, and Sara’s brow furrows.

 

“Is everything okay?” She asks, concerned.

 

“Yeah,” Ava says. “No. I just—”

 

“Ava,” Sara says, lowering her voice. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

 

“You know when I would text you and ask if you wanted to run lines?” Ava starts, not looking directly at Sara.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“It was just an excuse to see you,” Ava says all in a rush. “Well, I did want to run lines, too, but specifically with you.”

 

“I—”

 

Ava holds up a hand to cut her off, a pleading expression on her face, and Sara shuts up and lets her finish.

 

“And it’s fine that you don’t feel the same,” Ava continues. “You’re with Jax and I respect that. I’m sorry for barging in and kissing you last week, that wasn’t my place and I apologise.”

 

Suddenly, it clicks.

 

“Wait, do you have feelings for me?” Sara can hardly believe what she’s hearing.

 

Ava nods, eyes wide and fearful, and opens her mouth, but whatever she’s about to say is interrupted by the call for positions. The interval is almost over, and Sara needs to be onstage before the curtain opens.

 

Sara glances to the stage as the lost boys rush between her and Ava. When she glances back, she can’t see her anymore. Sara lies down on the stage as Peter plays dead to scare the lost boys, and just before the curtain opens, something that Ava had said comes back to her.

 

Jax? She’s not – unless Ava thinks – oh, no.

 

Sara wants to kick herself.

 

*****

 

Hook and the pirates try to charm Peter’s location out of Wendy, to no avail. They give her jewellery, and pretty dresses, and all dance around the pirate ship, but Wendy still won’t give up on Peter. Ava sits at the bow of the boat, melancholy. Sara waits in the wings.

 

 _“Captain, this ain’t going to work,”_ Leo Snart, who has been gleefully hamming up the role of Smee for weeks, says to Darhk. _“She won’t give him up.”_

_“I made Mother Teresa dance on tables, Smee,”_ Darhk retorts. _“Wendy is a thirteen-year-old girl.”_

_“But it’s her heart. I think she… cares for him, Captain.”_

_“Can you imagine it?”_ Darhk muses, and Ava catches Sara’s eye for a split-second before averting her gaze. _“Caring for someone so much that you’d be willing to die for them? It’s—”_

_“Amazing,”_ Leo says.

 

 _“Pathetic,”_ Darhk says at the same time. _“Why doesn’t anyone feel like that about me?”_

_“They do,”_ Leo says.

 

_“Like who?”_

_“Me,”_ Leo tells him, and the crowd ‘awww’s a bit.

 

 _“Yes, I’m asking you,”_ Darhk misses the point.

 

_“Me, sir.”_

_“Yes, Smee – I’m asking you,”_ Darhk says, amongst laughter from the audience. _“Oh, forget it. How does Peter command such loyalty?”_

_“Might just be how Wendy feels,”_ Leo comments.

 

_“Feels?”_

_“I reckon I’ve felt something similar,”_ Leo says.

 

Darhk turns to look at him. _“You’ve felt like that?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“For whom?”_

_“Oh, I don’t know,”_ Leo takes a breath. _“You?”_

 

There’s a long pause in which Darhk and Leo stare at each other, and Sara can feel the audience anticipating something big…

 

 _“Stop asking me what I think, I’m asking you!”_ Darhk says finally, and the audience erupts into laughter.

 

The scene progresses, and Sara’s really looking forward to the crowd seeing this side to Wendy’s updated character. In an attempt to get Peter’s location from her, Hook threatens to have Tiger Lily walk the plank.

 

Ava dashes forwards to try and save her but Hook holds her back.

 

 _“No, no – don’t forget, Wendy. She left you to die, remember? She didn’t save you,”_ Darhk tells Ava. _“You must stop wasting your affection on those that don’t deserve it. It’s terribly weak of you. Lower the plank.”_

_“What?”_ Ava says, panicking. _“What are you doing?”_

_“Wendy,”_ Amaya says. _“Don’t risk no skin for me, man. I’m not your fight.”_

_“He lives – um – he lives,”_ Ava says. _“Can I think about it for a moment—”_

_“I’ve been so good to you,”_ Darhk says evilly.

 

_“He lives…”_

Darhk turns to his pirates. _“Kill her.”_

_“No!”_ Ava shouts. _“He lives in the Home Under the Ground – beneath the five trees in the clearing in the Never Forest.”_

_“I don’t bloody believe it,”_ Leo utters in surprise.

 

 _“Hold it,”_ Darhk commands his men. _“Oh, darling Wendy, well done – well done!”_

_“You saved me, over him?”_ Amaya asks in surprise.

 

 _“Jump,”_ Ava says. Amaya looks at her, confused. _“Just jump. Jump! Now! We have to get there before he does.”_

Ava launches herself at Amaya, pushing them both over the back of the ship, where there’s a crash mat waiting out of sight from the audience. A sound effect of splashing covers up the real sound of the two of them hitting the mat.

 

Sara grins as she gets ready for her next scene. She’s really going to miss this play.

 

*****

 

After the whole ‘I do believe in fairies’ bit that a lot of the audience have been waiting for, Peter sets out to rescue Wendy from the pirates, unaware that she’s already rescued herself and Tiger Lily.

 

Sara’s exited, and she turns to watch the scene she knows all too well between Tink, and Wendy. She misses the first few lines, but tunes in as it gets interesting.

 

 _“Peter’s alive,”_ Zari tells Ava. _“No thanks to you.”_

Ava’s relieved for a second before it turns to anger.

 

 _“Well, don’t try and protect him because I’m telling you when I find him,”_ Ava says in a rush. _“I am going to – he better be ready because I – I am angry – and I am going to—”_

_“You’re genuinely terrifying,”_ Zari comments, taking a step back.

 

 _“He drags me here, promising to help me,”_ Ava continues. _“Gives me a blinkin’ button – plays monkeys – then he lies to me, leaves me for dead – he didn’t try and rescue me, he—”_

_“And now he’s en route to the Jolly Roger to save your skinny ass,”_ Zari tells her.

 

Ava pauses. _“What?”_

_“Right,”_ Zari says. _“So move!”_

_“But I’m not there,”_ Ava says dumbly.

 

Zari groans. _“Your powers of perception are overwhelming.”_

That gets a good laugh from the audience. Tiger Lily enters the scene, and Wendy tries to rally them to fight. They both resist, and turn to leave, and Sara watches in anticipation for Wendy’s big, empowering speech of character development. Ava always does this speech so well, Sara thinks.

 

 _“No! No one’s going anywhere,”_ she begins, blocking the exit. _“I’ve had it with this island. Every single girl I’ve met has tried to kill me; do you know how that makes me feel? Tink, you’ve never liked me and I’ve not done anything to you ever.”_

Zari rolls her eyes.

 

Ava turns to Amaya. _“And, Tiger Lily, just get over the Lone Ranger thing – you might be able to do it on your own but isn’t it just… better, to have some help?”_

Amaya shrugs.

 

 _“I don’t get it,”_ Ava continues. _“I don’t get why the boys get to be friends and have fun and – but we – we have to be against each other. And if it’s all because of him, well, that’s a waste… because I promise you, he isn’t not being friends or not having fun because of us, is he?”_

Sara can’t see the audience from where she is, but she can hear little noises of agreement.

 

 _“And the truth is, I would love to fight like you, or be all…”_ Ava makes an adorable little ‘grr’ noise which melts Sara’s heart. _“I’d like to be like you. So here’s what’s going to happen – we’re going to be a team. We’re going to go to that pirate ship, we’re going to kick some pirate – bum – and we’re going to find my little brother and I – I will be Captain. Who’s with me?”_

The audience bursts into applause, and Sara can’t take her eyes off Ava. Onstage, Amaya and Zari sulk a little bit.

 

 _“Suppose,”_ Zari concedes.

 

 _“Um…”_ Amaya says.

 

 _“I said, who’s with me?”_ Ava repeats.

 

Amaya sighs, looking at the dress the pirates had given Wendy.

 

 _“If you’re gonna fight him you got to lose the dress,”_ she tells Ava.

 

Ava nods, and goes to pull off the dress there and then.

 

 _“Whoa!”_ Zari stops her. _“My eyes.”_

_“I mean change it up,”_ Amaya explains amidst the laughter from the audience. _“Not freaking – undressing now.”_

_“I do apologise,”_ Ava says. _“I got a little overexcited.”_

Sara gets ready to be in position for the next scene – the one where Peter and the lost boys get captured by the pirates. After that, it will be time for the last act four scene one.

 

*****

 

After the final battle, it’s just Ava and Sara onstage.

 

 _“This way,”_ Sara tells her.

 

 _“Where are we going?”_ Ava asks her.

 

Sara smiles gently at her. _“Close your eyes, biscuit face.”_

She takes Ava’s hand, the first time the character has done so, and leads her to the ‘cloud’ that’s been rigged. Both of them are still wired from the fight earlier in the scene, and as soon as they’re onboard, the cloud lifts them up in the air.

 

Sara stands up and the cloud starts to rock. Ava grabs onto it.

 

 _“No, Peter – look, it’s not funny – I haven’t got any fairy dust – I can’t fly without it. Stop it, look, it’s getting late and we’ve had a very long day and—”_ Ava cuts herself off as she takes in the view. _“Oh, look – it’s – amazing.”_

_“See?”_ Sara smiles again. She points to the button hanging from Ava’s necklace. _“Look – my kiss.”_

_“I’ve kept it,”_ Ava says softly. _“All the time, ever since you gave it to me.”_

_“Oh.”_

_“Have you kept mine?”_ Ava asks.

 

Sara searches her pockets. _“No, I – no, I don’t think I have. I must have…”_

_“Forgotten it,”_ Ava says, a little sadly. Sara looks up and meets her eyes.

 

 _“Yes – somewhere. I suppose,”_ she says.

 

 _“You forget everything – just like that and it isn’t fair because I remember everything – every last detail,”_ Ava says. _“All the time and—”_

_“Well don’t,”_ Sara interrupts, looking away. _“Remembering is mean.”_

_“No, it’s not,”_ Ava argues. _“It’s forgetting all the time that’s horrid.”_

_“Remembering is old and heavy and it feels all, ugh, inside,”_ Sara says.

 

Ava shakes her head. _“But forgetting is cold and heartless and awful and—”_

_“I was lost once,”_ Sara says quietly, telling the story of Peter going back to see his mother only to find he had been replaced with a new baby, and that stars are lost boys whose mothers haven’t been truly happy since. That at the first moment every member of the family has experienced a moment of true happiness, the lost boy is released and lands on Neverland.

 

 _“But I don’t want to forget him,”_ Ava says, being the only member of the family to not have experienced a moment of true happiness since. _“I love him.”_

_“You don’t forget the boy,”_ Sara explains. _“You just forget to be sad; just for a moment.”_

_“I’ve been trying – I’ve been trying so hard to forget but I’m tired, Peter,”_ Ava says, after a pause. _“I feel like I’ve been sad for such a long time… and I can’t seem to—”_

_“That’s just it,”_ Sara tells her. _“You’re trying and if you try to forget, well, that’s why I couldn’t tell you that forgetting was what you had to do – because if you knew, you’d try to forget. And if a person tries to forget it only makes them remember twice as hard and they get stuck.”_

_“No – Peter! You shouldn’t have told me,”_ Ava panics. _“Now I’ll just try and try – and never forget – and Tom will stay stuck and—”_

Sara takes her hand again. _“Just one happy thought,”_ she whispers. _“Pure happy.”_

Ava just looks at her for a moment, a slow smile spreading across her face. She looks out at the imaginary sky, and stands up on the cloud. She puts both her feet on the edge, and Sara can’t help but smile as Ava takes a deep breath.

 

_“I am Wendy Darling. I am brave and I am strong and I am going on an adventure.”_

Ava steps off the cloud and the audience gasp, just as they have done every performance. Sara jumps off too, both of them whooping in delight as they fly around the stage. Sara realises she’s really going to miss flying. As she and Ava gradually circle closer to the stage floor, they aim towards each other.

 

They catch each other at the perfect time on this occasion, landing together in a close embrace as Ava looks out over the audience into the distance. She turns back to look at Sara, and Sara hopes Ava can look past her character and see how much emotion she’s trying to convey with her eyes.

 

 _“What?”_ Ava’s line is barely a whisper as Sara’s already moving impossibly closer.

 

Sara kisses Ava with as much feeling as she can. She wants to put every emotion she’s been feeling around Ava for the past several weeks into one kiss, and it’s probably impossible, but she’s going to try.

 

She kisses Ava gently, cradling her face in her hands as she presses her lips to Ava’s over and over again.

 

 _I’m not with Jax,_ she tries to say through the kiss. _I have feelings for you, too._

She’s not sure if Ava gets the message, but she kisses back just as softly, and Sara knows this kiss has lasted longer than the other ones this week have, but she doesn’t want to stop kissing Ava just yet.

 

Actually, she doesn’t want to stop kissing her, ever.

 

But Sara knows this can’t go on forever. Eventually she breaks the kiss, keeping her eyes shut for a second before she has to refocus on the scene. She opens her eyes to find Ava already looking at her.

 

*****

 

After the ending (where the Darling children and Tom are reunited with their parents), and the final curtain call, comes the after-party.

 

Apparently, it’s a time-honoured tradition amongst theatre kids to have a massive party just after the end of a show’s run to commemorate the good times. More importantly, it’s a chance to get very, very drunk.

 

Sara would be doing that right about now, but she’s been trying to spot Ava for ages, and the conversation she wants to have with her is one she’d rather do sober. She scans the crowd, frowning as she can’t see her.

 

Zari taps her on the shoulder.

 

“She’s outside,” she tells a grateful Sara. “Go sort things out.”

 

Sara doesn’t need to be told twice. Not anymore.

 

She practically races outside of whichever dorm they’re throwing this damn party in, and finds Ava sitting on a bench looking at the sky. It’s late, and it’s winter, and Sara doesn’t know how Ava hasn’t frozen to death.

 

“Hey,” she greets, once she’s within earshot, and Ava jumps, clearly having been lost in thought.

 

“Hi,” she manages a smile as Sara sits down next to her.

 

“Party not to your taste?” Sara asks quietly.

 

Ava shakes her head. “Too loud. Too drunk. Not enough stars.”

 

Sara looks up at the sky, too, scanning the stars to find the brightest one she can.

 

“I can’t believe I’m not Peter Pan anymore,” she sighs.

 

Ava turns to look at her. “There’ll be other characters. You’re actually really good at acting, bum boy.”

 

Sara scowls and looks at Ava, who’s trying to contain her laughter. “Biscuit face,” she teases right back. “And it’s not the same.”

 

There’s a moment where neither of them say anything; they just look at each other, and Sara’s eyes roam around Ava’s face. Ava grins despite herself, shaking her head fondly and dropping the eye contact.

 

“Hey, Ava?”

 

Ava hums in acknowledgement, and Sara takes it as an invitation to continue.

 

“I’m not with Jax.”

 

Ava freezes, eyes suddenly meeting Sara’s. “You’re not?”

 

Sara shakes her head. “He’s like a brother to me. I’ve been trying to tell you, I—”

 

“You—”

 

And it’s no good, because the whole big speech Sara had half-planned in the time between Ava’s confession and now has left her mind. It hadn’t been a particularly good speech, but it had been a speech.

 

“I am Sara Lance,” she says instead, and Ava’s brow furrows in confusion. “I am brave and I am strong and I am going to kiss you now.”

 

Her words appear to register in Ava’s brain half a second before Sara kisses her, if her smile is anything to go by. Sara can feel Ava’s smile against her own lips, and Ava kisses her back eagerly, tangling a hand in Sara’s loose hair.

 

It’s so cold outside, but Ava’s lips are so warm as they move over Sara’s, and she thinks Peter Pan might have been talking sense when he’d spoken about one truly happy thought giving someone the ability to fly.

 

Ava pulls back from the kiss, but she stays close, leaning her forehead against Sara’s.

 

“You have feelings for me?” She asks, echoing their earlier conversation.

 

“I have feelings for you,” Sara confirms, pressing a firm kiss to Ava’s lips.

 

Ava smiles, really smiles, and draws back to look at Sara properly.

 

“Do you want to get out of here, or…” Ava trails off, and a smirk slowly spreads across Sara’s face.

 

“You have no idea how much I want that.”

 

*****

 

Sara doesn’t register that she’s finally finding out where Ava lives until she’s being pushed against her front door to close it, shoes and jackets discarded somewhere Sara doesn’t care about. Ava kisses her hungrily, reaching down to hook one of Sara’s legs over her hip, and Sara is pleasantly surprised. It seems all Ava needs is the confidence that Sara likes her back.

 

And Sara does like her back. She really likes her back.

 

She likes Ava’s back, too. Sara scratches blunt nails down her spine and Ava gasps into her mouth, her hips jerking forward of their own accord, and Sara groans at the friction the movement creates. It’s been far too long, and this is _Ava_ who’s moving against her, and Sara can’t find it within herself to care whether or not Ava lives alone as she whines against Ava’s lips.

 

Sara pushes up on her other leg, wrapping both of them around Ava’s waist. Ava braces Sara against the poor front door, hands going to her ass to keep her up. Sara can’t help but rock her core against Ava, and Ava breaks the kiss to press her face into Sara’s neck.

 

“Sara—” she chokes out.

 

“Yes?” Sara asks innocently, tilting her head to the side with a breathy moan as Ava starts to press kisses down her neck.

 

“Bedroom.”

 

“Lead the way,” Sara grins, and Ava gets a more secure grip on her before lifting her away from the door and presumably in the direction of her bedroom.

 

“You’re deceptively strong, you know that?” Sara comments as they enter her room, surprised by the ease with which Ava is carrying her.

 

Ava simply smirks and lowers them both down onto the bed, settling between Sara’s thighs with a delicious kind of weight.

 

“And you’re wearing far too many clothes, you know that?” Ava says back.

 

“What are you waiting for then?”

 

“Verbal consent,” Ava says, and it’s both a joke and a serious statement.

 

“Ava,” Sara says. “I want you to take my clothes off, and then I want you inside me.”

 

Ava’s jaw drops, eyes closing at the mental image.

 

“Does that count as verbal consent?” Sara asks sweetly.

 

“You—” Ava grins, recovering enough to kiss Sara again, licking into her mouth as she grinds her hips down, and it’s Sara’s turn to be taken by surprise.

 

Ava’s hands go to the soft shirt Sara had put on after changing out of her costume, pushing the fabric up and over Sara’s sports bra. Sara arches her back off the bed enough for Ava to pull the shirt over her head and toss it aside. She rakes her nails up and down Sara’s abs, and Sara’s never been prouder of them than she is in this moment.

 

She drags Ava’s head to where she can kiss her again even as one of Ava’s hands slips under her back and go towards the fastening of her bra. She arches up again to give her easier access, and Ava flicks the clasp open with one hand, pulling the fabric away from Sara’s body.

 

For a moment, Ava just looks at her in open awe, and then her hands are covering Sara’s breasts even as her lips trail down Sara’s neck and chest to join them. She flicks her tongue over one nipple and Sara moans, grabbing a handful of Ava’s hair and keeping her head exactly where it is.

 

Meanwhile, Ava’s hands go to the fly of her jeans. She pauses, lifting her head from Sara’s chest to look at her with a question in her eyes.

 

“Off,” Sara gasps. “I want them off.”

 

Ava obliges, popping the button and unzipping the jeans before peeling them down her legs and off, taking her socks with them. Sara tugs at Ava’s shirt.

 

“You need less clothes,” she tells her.

 

Ava smirks, and crosses her arms at her waist, grabbing her shirt and pulling it over her head. She deposits it on the floor as Sara sits up until Ava’s basically in her lap, kissing over her collarbones as she removes Ava’s bra. Speechless at the sight, but not to be outdone, Sara licks and sucks and even uses her teeth a little bit until Ava is panting above her.

 

“I thought—” Ava gasps. “I thought you wanted me inside – inside you.”

 

Sara groans. That seems like a wonderful idea, and she tells Ava as much. Ava kisses her, pushing her back down onto the mattress as she moves her hands to the last thing covering Sara.

 

Her fingers toy with the elastic waistband even as Sara gets impatient and tries to push her underwear down her own legs. Ava takes pity and removes the offending garment, fingertips skating back up Sara’s thighs as she parts them.

 

“Fuck,” Ava breathes out as her fingers come into contact with the wetness she finds at the apex of Sara’s legs.

 

“Yeah, that is the idea,” Sara manages, grinding down; seeking as much friction as she can.

 

“You’ve got a mouth on you,” Ava raises an eyebrow.

 

“You have no idea—” Sara cuts herself off with a whine as two of Ava’s fingers slip inside with no resistance.

 

“What’s the magic word?” Ava asks, keeping her fingers torturously still.

 

“Bite me,” Sara grits out.

 

“Maybe later.”

 

“Biscuit face?” Sara tries again.

 

“Not even close,” Ava says, starting to withdraw her fingers.

 

“Fine, fine!” Sara gives in. “Please.”

 

“Please what?”

 

Sara threads her fingers through Ava’s hair and grips tight. “Fuck me.”

 

Ava groans, unable to hold out any longer, and then she’s moving, building a strong rhythm as Sara rolls her hips, closing her eyes as she loses herself in sensation. It’s really not that long before she’s nearing the edge, but it’s not until Ava’s thumb finds her clit that her body stiffens and her eyes fly open, mouth dropping open as she flies.

 

Ava works her through it, bringing her down gently before withdrawing. She makes sure Sara’s watching her before she brings her fingers to her mouth and sucks them clean. Sara groans.

 

“That’s not fair.”

 

“What are you going to do about it?” Ava challenges her, leaning down over Sara.

 

Sara winks, using her core muscles to flip them over. Ava’s on her back before she registers what’s just happened, and Sara pins her wrists down, kissing her open-mouthed and slow.

 

“I want to go down on you,” Sara says, and she feels Ava’s hips thrust up against hers.

 

“Best idea you’ve ever had,” Ava gasps.

 

Sara smirks, trails her lips down and keeps going, licking a path down Ava’s stomach until she gets to the waistband of her pants. Her hands leave Ava’s wrists to rest at the button, and she waits for Ava’s confirmation before taking them off.

 

She takes Ava’s socks and her underwear with them, too, and suddenly Ava’s laid out bare before her, and Sara doesn’t think she’s seen anything quite so beautiful. She says as much, a second before her tongue makes contact and Ava’s hips rise up off the bed.

 

Sara slings one arm over her hips to keep them under control as she explores, frustrating Ava by taking her time. She doesn’t set a particular pattern, she just takes her time, flicking her tongue over Ava’s clit and thoroughly enjoying the reaction she gets.

 

After she’s done teasing, she focuses her attention on Ava’s clit, using one – and then two – fingers inside to help build Ava up until the pressure becomes almost unbearable.

 

“Sara, I’m—” Ava chokes out, a second before every muscle in her body goes tight. Sara looks up as best she can, watching in awe as Ava comes. She feels it too, and she would be the happiest person alive if she got to witness this every day.

 

She brings Ava down slowly, until her eyes open and her body relaxes. Sara works her way up Ava’s body, settling down next to her with a contented sigh. Ava reaches for her, kissing Sara gentler than she has all night.

 

“So…” Sara trails off once they’ve parted. “Hypothetical question, but if I asked you to be my girlfriend even though we’ve technically gone on a grand total of zero dates, what would you say?”

 

“Hypothetically, I would say yes,” Ava replies, playing with a strand of Sara’s hair. “I would also argue that running lines counts as dates.”

 

“I didn’t know they were dates,” Sara protests. “Hypothetically, of course.”

 

Ava just laughs at her. “Hypothetically, I really hope this is you actually asking me to be your girlfriend.”

 

“It is,” Sara says softly. “Will you?”

 

“Of course,” Ava says, kissing her again, and Sara suspects she’ll never get tired of kissing Ava.

 

“Want to come to Family Friday next week?” Sara asks.

 

“I thought you’d never ask.”

 

“I did ask!” Sara exclaims. “The first time we ran lines together.”

 

Realisation dawns on Ava’s face. “You did.”

 

“I did,” Sara confirms. She tucks herself into Ava’s side, stifling a yawn. “I’m sure they’d all love to have you there.”

 

“Okay,” Ava says, kissing her on the forehead even as Sara can feel herself drifting off. “Girlfriend.”

 

“You’re a nerd,” Sara says, even as the word ‘girlfriend’ makes her feel even warmer. “Goodnight, nerdy girlfriend.”

 

Ava bites back a laugh, stroking Sara’s hair as her breathing starts to even out.

 

“Goodnight.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna go... see myself out...
> 
> Any comments would be greatly appreciated; it's how I get my validation these days <3
> 
> Also my tumblr is @ilovemyships and my twitter is @shegaylol if you wanna talk to me over there :)


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